Bruins Kick Off PAC 8 Hockey Season at Oregon

19 October 2012

The UCLA Bruins Men’s Hockey team kicks off their 2012-2013 Men’s hockey season in a big way this weekend as they face-off for pair of games against perennial power University of Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Friday and Saturday night. The Bruins have added several new faces new faces to this year’s squad both behind the bench and on the ice in the hopes of making their second straight trip to the PAC 8 Championship Tournament come February. Behind the bench, Bruins Coach, Mark Francis (3rd yr Fredericton, NB Canada) has re-united with former OHL, ECHL and University of New Brunswick (CIS) defensive star Mike Dombkiewicz who re-located to LA from his hometown of Buffalo, NY during the off-season and will play a big role in handling the team’s defensive effortsw and special teams. Former UCLA Head Coach and prominent LA Sports Broadcaster (NHL Cool Shots, FOX Sports etc.), Dan Moriarty (Los Angeles, CA) has also joined this years coaching staff and will aid in the Bruins offensive schemes in the coming season. Former Bruin, Maxence Hilleret (France) is also back to round out the Bruins braintrust for the 2012-2013 season. Coach Francis is very pleased with the coaching additions; “Management 101 tells you to surround yourself with good people and both Mike and Dan bring a wealth of experience to this year’s squad and this experience can only serve to help us in our pursuit of a PAC 8 title this season. Maxence has been with us for 3 years now as well and I couldn’t be happier with how our staff has come together.

The Bruins have had mnimal turnover from last season and has upgraded at several key positions as well. Forwards, Andrew Heckler (Chicago, Ill) and Justin Wilmers (Los Angeles, CA), figure to play key roles on the offensive side while rearguards Nick Vossler and Josh Schacter (Boston, MA) have shown great size and skill thus far. Senior Goalie and 2nd Team PAC All-Star, Al Riccardelli (Boston, MA) is joined in goal by Freshman Rohit Seth and will look to cap his Collegiate hockey career with a championship this season. Offensively, the Bruins are led by Senior Captain, Michael Carder (Huntington Beach, CA) who has been a conference All-Star the past 2 seasons. He will be joined up front by dynamic junior Doo Soo Kim, David Giroux, Mark Yost, Nick Panzica, Tanner Collins, Charlie Lenihan, Nick Sims, Jay Singh, Zach Tenney, Zach Gannoway, Justin Wilmers, Oliver Willis and Andrew Heckler. The Defensive corps has impressed in the pre-season and features good depth with Yohan Rousellet (France), Kevin Lystad (Los Angeles, CA), Josh Schacter, Nick Vossler, Ryan Louis and Josh Kimmel (Toronto, Canada).

This weekend’s games begin a tough early schedule for the Bruins as they return home next weekend to host last year’s finalist University of UTAH Skatin’ Utes at the LA Kings Valley Ice Center in Panorama City for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.